Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 9/11/2025
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 2:15 pm Central time (3:15 pm Eastern).
Hawks Sign Kobe Johnson To Exhibit 10 Deal
September 11: Two-and-a-half months after his agreement was first reported, Johnson has officially signed with the Hawks, the team announced in a press release. It’s an Exhibit 10 deal, confirms Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
June 27: The Hawks have agreed to a deal with UCLA forward Kobe Johnson, Jonathon Givony reports for ESPN (via Twitter).
Johnson played for three years at USC, emerging as a starter and a defensive force after averaging just 7.5 minutes per game as a freshman. He subsequently transferred to UCLA for his senior year.
In his lone year as a Bruin, Johnson averaged 7.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.6 steals while shooting 36.2% from three and earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Defensive team, his third consecutive selection to his conference’s All-Defensive team. While his three-point shot has been up-and-down, Johnson is a career 76.7% free-throw shooter, which offers some hope for him finding eventual shooting consistency.
While Givony doesn’t specify the terms of the agreement, it will likely be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract for Johnson. Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, though the Hawks have already reached two-way agreements with Eli John Ndiaye and Kentucky’s Lamont Butler to two-way contracts.
An Exhibit 10 deal would also put Johnson on track to join the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ G League team, as an affiliate player once the season begins.
EuroBasket Notes: Osman, Wagner, Doncic, Loyd
Former NBA forward Cedi Osman has been a key part of Turkey’s run to the EuroBasket semifinals, ranking second on the team in points per game (14.9) and third in minutes (26.8) and plus/minus (+14.0) while converting 51.2% of his three-pointers (5.9 attempts per contest).
However, Osman sustained an ankle injury in Tuesday’s quarterfinal win over Poland. While he returned to that game, he was seen limping off the team bus on Thursday (Twitter video link) and was unable to practice (story via BasketNews).
Head coach Ergin Ataman told Turkish media the 30-year-old will likely be a game-time decision for Friday’s matchup against Greece, as Semih Tuna of Eurohoops relays.
“Their biggest concern was a stress fracture. That’s what it looked like. Thankfully, he avoided a stress fracture,” explained Ataman, “He has bone swelling in that area, preventing him from putting any weight on his foot. He wanted to return to the court in this condition. He will play under any circumstances, but we do not know how effective he can be.
“... We will make a decision based on possible progress,” Ataman continued. “Cedi definitely wants to play, but his injury is serious. He has some time until Friday night, so I hope he can make progress. If the game were (Wednesday or Thursday), he surely would not be able to play.”
Here are a few more notes related to EuroBasket 2025:
- Germany used a second-half comeback to defeat Slovenia and Lakers superstar Luka Doncic on Wednesday to advance to the semifinals. After the game, German national team and Magic star Franz Wagner said he didn’t notice a difference playing against the slimmed-down Doncic, who set a quarterfinal record by scoring 39 points (he also had 10 rebounds and seven assists). “He’s like that all the time, so I see no difference really,” Wagner said, per Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. “Extremely good player. If he got a little bit better, he might have, but it’s tough to tell with him.”
- Doncic was exasperated with the officiating after the loss, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. “Four fouls at the start of the third quarter—never in my life,” Doncic said. “And a technical two minutes in… that shouldn’t happen in a quarterfinal.” While Doncic said he was “100 percent angry,” he was pleased with Slovenia’s performance at the tournament. “We gave our all. This wasn’t the result we wanted, but our run deserves respect.”
- Veteran guard Jordan Loyd, who won a championship while on a two-way deal with Toronto in 2019, had an excellent EuroBasket showing with Poland, averaging a team-high 22.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals on .490/.422/.875 shooting in seven games (32.0 MPG). NBA insider Marc Stein reports (via Twitter) that several EuroLeague teams — most prominently Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid — are pursuing Loyd, who has spent the last three seasons with AS Monaco. Aris Barkas of Eurohoops says Loyd is still under contract with Monaco and the club would have to release him to sign with another team. According to Nacho Duque of Spanish outlet Marca, Loyd has a tentative deal in place with Real Madrid, but there are several complicating factors, including that his Spanish league rights are currently held by Valencia, which could theoretically match any contract he signs.
Mavs Sign P.J. Washington To Four-Year Extension
September 11: Washington has officially signed his extension with the Mavs, the team announced (via Twitter).
September 3: The Mavericks and forward P.J. Washington have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth nearly $90MM, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. Washington’s new deal will run through the 2029/30 season.
The first year of the veteran extension will have a starting salary of $19,813,044, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. That is the maximum allowed — a 140% increase of Washington’s $14,152,174 salary for this season. With 8% annual raises, the total value of the deal will be $88,762,437.
Washington will be ineligible to be traded during the upcoming season once he officially signs the contract, since it will exceed the extend-and-trade limitations.
The Mavericks have been locking up veteran contributors throughout the offseason. They also signed Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford to three-year deals — Irving’s begins in 2025/26, while Gafford’s starts in ’26/27.
The Mavericks acquired Washington from Charlotte at the trade deadline in February 2024 and he was a key part of the team’s run to the Finals that season, starting in all 22 games. Last season, the 27-year-old averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per night with shooting splits of 45.3% from the field and 38.1% on 3-pointers in 57 games.
In 390 career regular season contests, Washington has averaged 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game.
Washington will play a regular role in a loaded Dallas frontcourt that also features Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Gafford, and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
Timberwolves Announce Numerous Staff Promotions, Additions
The Timberwolves have promoted Joe Connelly to vice president of player personnel and added Chris Hines as an assistant coach, according to a team press release.
The Wolves also announced several other promotions or additions, including Jeff Newton as assistant coach/director of player development, James White as assistant coach/player development, Dapo Adegbile as basketball strategy/analytics coordinator and Kelly McCarty as a player development associate.
Connelly – the brother of Minnesota’s head of basketball operations Tim Connelly – has spent the last three seasons as the team’s director of scouting. Prior to joining the Timberwolves, Connelly spent the previous seven seasons with the Nuggets holding various roles in scouting and player development.
Hines enters his fourth season with the Timberwolves after spending the last season as the team’s assistant coach/director of player development. He also spent time with Minnesota as a development coach.
Newton enters his seventh season with the organization and served as an assistant coach last season. White returns for his third season with the organization after spending the last two seasons as a player development assistant.
Adegbile enters his fourth season with the organization after previously spending last season as their strategy analyst.
McCarty joins the Timberwolves after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the G League’s Iowa Wolves.
Spurs Add Osayi Osifo To Camp Roster
The Spurs have signed free agent forward Osayi Osifo on a training camp deal, Paul Garcia of The Spot Up Shot tweets. That gives San Antonio the maximum of 21 players on its camp roster.
Osifo, a native of South Africa, went undrafted out of Jacksonville in 2023. The 6’9” forward was on the Spurs’ Summer League roster in July after spending last season with the G League’s Austin Spurs. In 39 games at that level last season, he averaged 6.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 21.6 minutes per game.
Assuming Osifo received an Exhibit 10 contract, he’ll be eligible for a bonus of up to $85,300 if he’s waived and then rejoins the Austin Spurs for at least 60 days.
Kawhi Leonard Received Endorsement Payment After Minority Owner Invested In Aspiration
The Clippers‘ lone minority owner made a nearly $2MM investment in Aspiration while the company was in dire straits. The San Francisco-based environmental firm then made a $1.75MM quarterly payment to Kawhi Leonard on the same day the company laid off 20 percent of its workforce, Pablo Torre reports on his latest “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast as relayed by The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.
It’s the latest development regarding the potential salary cap circumvention by the Clippers. Last week, Torre broke the story that Leonard signed a $28MM endorsement deal with the company, then performed no work after Aspiration received a $50MM investment from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. A subsequent report indicated that Aspiration agreed to pay Leonard an additional $20MM in company stock.
The NBA has hired a law firm to investigate the matter, and commissioner Adam Silver said on Wednesday that the burden of proof is on the league to find any wrongdoing by the Clippers.
Under the terms of the endorsement deal, Leonard was to be paid $1.75MM on a quarterly basis for four years. In December 2022, Clippers minority owner and vice chairman Dennis J. Wong made an investment of almost $2MM in Aspiration despite the fact that its independent auditor, KPMG, had resigned, and the company was already facing lawsuits worth millions for missed payments.
Aspiration missed a payment to Leonard in the fall before paying him in December, following Wong’s wire transfer to the firm, according to documents obtained by Torre. Payments to Leonard were marked as “critical.”
Leonard’s uncle and business manager Dennis Robertson had repeatedly contacted the company about the missed payment.
“There’s a huge freeze because there’s no money to be spent. So from the finance team’s perspective, we feel like we’re on the other end of collections calls. People are constantly coming in asking for their money. Between those months when all of this is missing – so September, October, November, and leading up to December, the actual certainty of the company even existing is up for grabs,” a former Aspiration employee told Torre. “At that point, are we gonna get paid as employees? Why does Uncle Dennis keep calling us? We have such bigger concerns that we’re thinking about, which is our own salaries. Are we gonna have to go through layoffs? Where is the money gonna come from? But lo and behold. Uncle Dennis gets paid.”
The Clippers issued a statement to Torre, which read, “The details of our relationship with Aspiration are under NBA investigation, but it is clear the company was a house of cards that defrauded Steve and many others. We look forward to sharing the facts with the league and providing them with all the information they need.”
Nuggets Announce Additions To Coaching Staff
The Nuggets confirmed the hiring of Jared Dudley as the top assistant to head coach David Adelman and announced several other additions to their coaching staff in a press release.
As first reported in early July, Dudley accepted the position with Denver over offers from Memphis and Cleveland. He spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Mavericks, joining them after ending his 14-year playing career.
Another former NBA player, J.J. Barea, is joining Adelman’s staff as an assistant coach. He also worked for Dallas after his playing career ended, serving as a player development coach during the 2021/22 season. Barea had been coaching the Guaynabo Mets in his native Puerto Rico before being dismissed in May. His expected hiring was also reported in July.
Mike Moser is coming to Denver after spending the last two seasons as an assistant in Houston and the previous year as a player enhancement coach with Boston. Moser also spent time with the Mavericks and the University of Oregon women’s program, and he has coached overseas in Lithuania, Israel, Kosovo, Qatar, Finland and France.
Chase Buford was hired after serving as an assistant last season at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. He also coached in Australia, winning two NBA titles with the Sydney Kings, and in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd.
Rodney Billups, the younger brother of Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, served as a scout with Brooklyn last season. He also spent three years as an assistant with the Trail Blazers and another season as a scout with Milwaukee.
The Nuggets also announced that Andrew Munson has been promoted to assistant coach and Ben Potts was hired as head video coordinator/player development coach.
Jamarion Sharp To Sign With Mavericks
The Mavericks will sign 7’5″ center Jamarion Sharp, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Scotto doesn’t specify the terms of the contract, but it will likely be an Exhibit 10 deal.
Sharp, 24, was in training camp with Dallas last fall, signing an Exhibit 10 contract after going undrafted out of Mississippi. He was waived before the season began and wound up with the Texas Legends, the Mavs’ G League affiliate, where he averaged 5.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 60.1% from the field.
Sharp was named to the NBA G League United Team in this year’s FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The Exhibit 10 contract will make him eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he gets waived again and spends at least 60 days with the Legends.
Dallas has 15 players with standard contracts, but only two of its two-way slots are filled, so Sharp could have a chance to compete for the opening in training camp. The signing will bring the Mavericks’ roster to 20 players, one short of the offseason limit.
Cormac Ryan Joins Bucks On Exhibit 10 Contract
Free agent guard Cormac Ryan has signed with the Bucks, the team announced on Twitter. It’s an Exhibit 10 contract, sources tell Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Ryan, 26, played for Milwaukee during the Las Vegas Summer League. He appeared in five games and averaged 11.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 23.1 minutes per night.
Ryan signed an Exhibit 10 contract last fall with the Thunder after going undrafted out of North Carolina. He was waived before the season began and played for the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue, averaging 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 27 regular season games.
The Exhibit 10 deal can be converted to a two-way contract, but the Bucks currently have all three of their two-way slots filled. Most likely, Ryan will end up with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, where he will be eligible to receive a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with the team.
Ryan’s signing brings the Bucks to the league limit of 21 players on their offseason roster.